Celestine Ikuenobe, the outgoing executive director of the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), has concluded his five-year tenure with a valedictory lecture.
In his address, he raised concerns about food insecurity in Africa, noting that over 140 million people on the continent are experiencing acute food insecurity, with one in every five Africans going to bed hungry.
Mr. Ikuenobe pointed to the 2022 global hunger index, which revealed that many African countries are facing severe to alarming levels of hunger. He emphasized that farmers in sub-Saharan Africa often employ inefficient farming methods, struggle with poor seeds, fragile soil, and limited access to inputs, which hinder their ability to produce enough food for a growing population.
The hunger index in Nigeria has been on a downward trend since the early 2000s. Mr. Ikuenobe attributed this food insecurity to under-resourced research efforts, unstable funding, inadequate infrastructure, and human resource capacity in the nation’s research system. He called for a strengthening and retooling of the research system to deliver innovations and knowledge for a vibrant agricultural sector.
Despite the challenges, Mr. Ikuenobe acknowledged that the agricultural sector in Nigeria has benefited from research and innovation outcomes, leading to improved crop varieties, animal breeds, and production and processing methods.
He expressed his gratitude to NIFOR staff for their dedicated and unpretentious support during his tenure.
Governor Godwin Obaseki, represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Stephen Idehenre, commended Mr. Ikuenobe for his commitment to the growth of the oil palm sector in the state. Obaseki highlighted that NIFOR’s guidance had led to the establishment of the state oil palm program, which allocated about 62,000 hectares of land to investors for oil palm plantations in the state.
